Phillips, Posey win at Briarwood

By By Marty Stamper / EMG sports assistant
July 9, 2004
Despite a slow start to their second round of the Briarwood Ladies 35th Invitational Tournament Thursday morning, Pam Posey and Leigh Phillips were never threatened as they won by seven strokes.
Posey and Phillips shot a 67 to finish 16 strokes under par for the tournament at 132. Tying for second were the teams of Janice Preble-Mary Hays and Peggy Benandi-Pat Ellis. Both shot 69 Thursday to finish at 139, 9-under par, at Briarwood Country Club.
Posey, the 2004 Mississippi Women's Golf Association state am runner-up, and Phillips, the 2004 MWGA junior state am champion, entered the day with a four-stroke lead over Mary Duvall and Dana Tidmore. Despite parring each of their first six holes, Posey and Phillips actually gained another stroke as Duvall and Tidmore bogeyed No. 2.
"We had a slow start," Posey said. "I think we were still trying to wake up from bed. I don't know. It wasn't bad, but we were parring along and finally got one in the hole on 7 for birdie.
"Then we birdied 7, 8, and 9 and had a good roll going."
"Once we got going, we got going," Phillips said. "At the beginning, we were never close to the hole. All our birdie putts were long birdie putts. We didn't give ourselves any easy chances.
"Starting on 7, we started getting inside 10 feet for birdie putts.
"On the back nine, we played pretty solid. We never got in any trouble and that was a plus."
Posey and Phillips made the turn at 3-under for day and 12-under for the tournament.
Meanwhile, Duvall and Tidmore were 1-over for the round and 4-under for the tournament after their first nine holes.
"We were nervous," Duvall said. "They did well. We had fun playing with them. They are really good golfers.
"Dana and I just love to play, so we had a good time. We just played our game because we knew we couldn't catch up to Pam and Leigh."
Birdies on 11, 12, 14, and 15 settled the outcome as the winners parred the final three holes.
"Leigh made an awesome putt on 11 for birdie and we birdied 12," Posey said. "As long as Leigh hits it, every par-5 should be at least a birdie. At least we expect it.
"It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed playing with Leigh. We had a great time. And I enjoyed playing with the people we played with yesterday and today."
Benandi and Ellis had birdies on Nos. 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 14 to go with a bogey on No. 18.
Preble and Hays had birdies on Nos. 1, 4, 9, 12, 15, and 17 to go with a bogey on No. 5.
Duvall and Tidmore had birdies on Nos. 14, 15, and 16 after taking bogeys on Nos. 2 and 11.
Completing the championship flight were Mary Edwards and Julia McKey at 144, Nell Bradford and Jan Lacy at 147, and Stacy Laprairie and Judy McDonald at 148.
Edwards had one of Thursday's better shots as the Louisiana Women's Golf Association president eagled No. 17 from about 100 yards out.